Parking a motorhome

I do my research on site on an evening after a meal. I suppose that if not using wheels much or needing to research parking, buses etc then that would be different

Can't be bothered with all this pre-planning. We just look on a map to see where we have never been to before or for at least  20 years. As we are not tied to the locations of Club sites we can go anywhere. Research can be undertaken when we arrive by asking the hosts, other campers, tourist information or the internet.

I do think if you refuse to take your MH off site after arriving then you have either, bought one that is too large, lost your nerve or touring in the wrong area/country.

But the reality is that parking a 6m+ MH in any busy UK car park designed primarily for cars can be challenging at times and driving around looking for a suitable space is tedious. There are obviously places where parking is easy such as those mentioned above e.g NT. However, choosing a site with convenient public transport links and/or within walking distance of places of interest is an good solution and generally not difficult to find, particularly if you’re prepared to walk a mile or two - good exercise as well.

SB, I quite understand that using public transport is the ideal situation if available - we enjoy using our bus passes as much as everyone else - but I'm sure you will agree that parking a 6m motorhome on a quiet promenade is much easier than parking a 7m+. 

However, it would seem to me that this detailed planning is OK if you are going to one site and then home but it takes away the spontaneity of what I believe touring ( especially with a MH) should be about. I would be interested for those who do tour, how far in advance ( location not time) do you plan. It seems at times to be more complicated than world championship chess.

Not really Mikey. We are pondering over a few areas to visit early September at the moment, mainly around how busy they will be in terms of being able to socially distance, and what of interest to us is likely to be open. We have more or less finalised our choice based on the above, and I have browsed a few potential places, mainly to check if they are actually open, given that this year is not a normal one!

One or two we could have used aren’t opening, but there are dozens of others to choose from. So, in terms of hard planning, that will happen the day before we set off, a phone call to one or two, to see who has a pitch spare, given that UK is full of frustrated folks who normally holiday overseas!😁 we hope to get around eight nights away, probably using around 4/5 sites. None will be Club, and at the moment we don’t need to rejoin to use CLs as our choices are private Sites. Nothing checked out until day before we roll. So no deposits, no worrying about not being able to honour a booking, it’s about as spontaneous as we can manage given the whole Covid thing.😁

It depends what you call detailed planning? I very much doubt that the researchers amongst us plan an hour by hour itinerary or even a day to day itinerary. It is just a question of having a look at what is available in the immediate area so that you don't have to waste time when you get on site. If you spend a week or two on a site that might be fine but our touring stops are usually only between 3 and 5 days on anyone site. There are a surprising number of campsites around the country that are either within easy walking distance of attractions or a short bus ride away. Why would I want to park my motorhome on a promenade when I can walk or catch a bus to it? It's your holiday so you can do what you want but I find it puzzling that you have to be critical of others who decide to do something different to what is your norm? There is no correct or incorrect way of holidaying in either a caravan or a motorhome, it is what suits the individual and long may it be it the case.

I do think if you refuse to take your MH off site after arriving then you have either, bought one that is too large, lost your nerve or touring in the wrong area/country.

Rather a strange statement, why should you think that? We preferred to leave the car on site as much as possible when we had a caravan. In my opinion, It's not particularly pleasurable driving into or around towns.

Nothing has changed in that respect. The main reason for changing to a  Motorhome was the ease of moving on , which we now generally do every 2 / 4 days.

We often stay put on a site, not bothered at all about driving all over the place as we did with the caravan. Between us we've seen a lot of places so now we go to relax not spend hours off site doing the tourist bit. We choose sites where we have access to something. On our very short two site first trip ot this year, 6 days, we had easy walking access to a river, fishing, a pub and footpaths plus a nature reserve, the coast, two more pubs (and two community food shops if needed.) No research needed as we know these places...next trip is to a small town and a river and lots of easy walks.

All these places have good public transport but we're not doing that if we can avoid it just now. We're gearing down this year, not up, trying to avoid the disappointments of cancelled trips etc and the M/H can be used en route to see a couple of friends.

We haven't lost our nerve, or run out of places to see but we're not going on a ground breaking adventure either, just an easy holiday. 

Steve, We have met and read about many motorhomers who say once arrived they will never take their motorhome off site.  It is the never I am referring to. In many cases we also prefer to walk/ cycle/bus to places of interest but we would never not visit a location just because it meant using the car.

We probably will swap to a motorhome in the coming years and hopefully it will hardly change our way of touring. We also move on after a few days because we prefer to be close to our areas of interest and wouldn't dream of staying 7 -10 days and driving 30 - 40 miles to visit somewhere, we would simply move closer.  

Regarding size, it seems to be universally acknowledged that those with smaller motorhomes tend to use them as transport whereas those with much larger motorhomes use them as caravans - I accept there are always exceptions but it is not far off the mark.

I would say don’t fall into the trap of dwelling too much on what others do, how they holiday, where they stay, how much planning or lack of planning goes into something. Everyone makes their own choices based upon their own wants and needs, and there is no right or wrong, just choice. By all means look and ponder, it can be a rewarding at times way to pass the time, but best not to comment😁

We own both, van and MH, and have a different holiday in both, because we choose it that way. We haven’t yet hitched the van onto the back of the MH, but who knows🤣